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P. RODIER, Decd. F. M. RODIER, Administratrix.

SKATE. No. 597,744. Patented Jan. 25, 1898.

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P. RODIER, Decd.

F. M. RODIER, Administratrix. SKATE. No. 597,744. Patented Jan. 25, 1898.

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P. RODIER, Deod. F. M. RODIER, Administratrix SKATE. No. 597,744. Patented Jan. 25, 1898.

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W M W UNITED STATES FFlCE.

PATENT.

PETER RODIER, OF EPR-INGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS; FLAVIE M. RODIER ADMINISTRATRIX OF SAID PETER RODIER, DECEASED.

SKATE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 597,744, dated January 25, 1898.

Application filed February 27, 1893. Serial No. 463,956. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern-.-

Be it known that 1, PETER RODIER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Spring field, in the county of Hampden and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Skates, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part thereof.

The object of my invention is to provide a skate of improved construction which can be securely fastened to a boot or shoe without the aid of straps and without the use of a wrench or other tool independent of the skate itself.

A further object is to provide means for clamping the front portion of the skate in position which will have the capacity of selfadjustment to enable it to conform itself to the shape of the sole to which it is applied and to bear evenly against the latter throughout the entire length of said clamping means.

Other objects are to lessen the cost of manufacture of the skate and to provide means whereby both the toe and heel clam ping devices are operated by the movement of a single lever.

To these ends my invention consists in the skate constructed as hereinafter fully described, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the drawings, in which like letters and numerals designate like parts in the several views, Figure 1 is a side view of a skate embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view thereof. Fig. 3 is a top plan view thereof with the clamping devices shown in their inoperative positions by broken lines. 3 is a view in perspective of a portion of the heel-pedestal and of the bottom plate of the heel-clamping means. Figs. 4, 5, and 6 are corresponding views of another form of the invention. Figs. 7 and 8 are respectively a plan and an end view of the bottom plate of the heel-clampin g means shown in Figs. 4., 5, and 6. Fig. 9 illustrates a slightly-modified form of said heel-clam ping means. Figs. 10, 11, and 12 illustrate still another modification of said heel-clamping mechanism, Fig. 10 showing the bottom plate, Fig. 11 the heelpedestal of the frame, and Fig. 12 a side view of a portion of said pedestal and the upper and bottom plates thereon. Figs. 13 and 14B are respectively a side and an end view of the claw which engages the front side of the heel. Fig. 15 is an inverted perspective view of one of the side clamps for the front portion of the skate. Fig. 16 is a plan view of a portion thereof, showing the manner of securing the adj listing-screw in its bearings.

The letter a designates the frame of the skate, which is preferably formed from a single piece of metal by drop-forging or other process,and is so shaped as to form a toepedestal 2 and a heel-pedestal 3, with a depression 4 between them, said frame terminating at its front end in 2. depending brace 5 and at its rear end in two depending braces 6 7 and having in the plane of the depression 4 a fourth brace 8, each of which braces is recessed at its lower end to receive the rum ner b and bored transversely to receive the screws or rivets by which said runner is fastened to the frame. The frame thus made is possessed of great strength and presents a light and pleasing appearance, and by tying the runner thereto at each end and also between the toe and heel pedestals the runner is rigidly held from lateral deflection and is prevented from being cracked or broken by heavy blows upon the ice. A further advantage secured by this form of frame is that it enables the runner to be readily removed from the frame for grinding or other purposes and enables a long runner for fast skating to be substituted for the ordinary runner quickly and conveniently.

To the toe-pedestal is secured by screws 9 a sole-plate c, and to the under side of said sole-plate, near one of the side edges thereof, is secured by rivets or otherwise one of the two side clamps (Z d. The side clamp 01 (shown detached in Figs. 15 and 16) is composed of the base-plate 10,which receives the rivets by which the clamp is secured to the soleplate, said base -plate being provided with a depending flange 12, in which is 'journaled an adjusting-screw 13 in such manner as to revolve without endwise movement, a slotted plate 14, embracing a guiding-stud 15 on the base-plate and provided at its inner end with a depending lu 16, which is tapped to receive said screw 13, and at its outer end with an upwardly-projecting and threaded post 17, and a clamping-jaw 18, provided midway between its ends with a tapped hole to receive said post and having an inwardly-projecting lip to overlie the edge of the sole of the shoe. By turning screw 13 the jaw 18 can be adjusted toward and away from the sole-plate c in a horizontal plane, and by turning said jaw about the post 17 it can be raised and lowered to correspond to any thickness of sole, while its freedom to rock upon said post as a center causes it to adapt itself to a sole of any shape and to bear against the edge thereof throughout its entire length, thereby insuring a firm hold upon the sole under all circumstances. Such capacity of said clamping-jaw to conform itself to soles of any shape forms an important feature of my invention, and I do not wish to restrict myself to the precise means for securing to it such function herein shown and described, as other forms of means for such purpose can be employed within the spirit of my invention.

With a view to cheapeningthe cost'of manufacture I prefer to mill or otherwise form upon the shank of the adj usting-screw 13 the groove or recess 19 (see Fig. 16) and to provide the base-plate and its flange 12 with the opening 20, whereby said screw can be passed within said opening in such manner as to cause the side edges of the opening in the flange 12 to project into the groove 19 in the screw, and thus form a bearing for the latter which will permit it to revolve without endwise movement. I also prefer to provide the clamping-jaw 18 with a longitudinal slit 21, as shown, extending for a short distance upon either side of the tapped hole therein to cause said jaw to have a pinching action upon the threaded post 17, and thus prevent sufficient loosenes's to enable the jaw to work itself off from the post, while affording it entire freedom to conform itself to the shape of a shoe-sole, as before described. The opposite side clamp (1 instead of being connected to the sole-plate is mounted upon the locking-lever c and is identical in its construction with the clamp (1, except that the baseplate 10 is omitted, said lever itself forming the base-plate and having a depending flange 2 2 projecting therefrom,which corresponds to the flange 12 and forms a bearing for the adjusting-screw. As shown in Figs. 1, 2,and 3, I

the lever e is .pivoted at itsfront end to the under side of the sole-plate and has its rear end extended slightly beyond the rear end of the latter and provided with a finger-piece 23. Adjacent to its rear end the lever is provided with a hole 24, (see its dotted position in Fig. 3,) which is adapted to receive a downwardly-projecting and inwardly-bent lug 25 on the sole-plate when the-lever is in its closed position to lock it in such position, said lug:

25 being preferably formed bystamping out and bending downwardly a portion of the metal composing the sole-plate, as shown, to lessen thecost of manufacture and increase the strength and durability thereof.

It will be obvious from an inspection of Figs. 2 and 3 that when a shoe-sole is compressed between the side clamps d d by forcing the locking-lever-to its closed position said lever cannot be released except bya sufficient farther inward movement thereof to disengage it from the lug 25, the lateral pressure of the-sole against the side clamps serving to increase the tightness of the locking action between ,the lever and said lug. It follows,

and instantly released by inward pressure thereon with the thumb or finger it cannot by any possibility he accidentally released during the act of skating, wherein the skate devised by me'differs materially from most of the skates heretofore used. The side clamps being once adjusted laterally and vertically to correspond with the width and thickness of the shoe-sole, a single movement of the locking-lever toward the foot serves to fasten the front portion of the skate to the shoe, and a single movement thereof in the opposite direction serves to release the same, for which purpose it is unnecessary to remove a glove or mitten from the hand which operates said lever.

The heel-clamping means shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3 are independent of the toe-clamping means and are similar in their mode of opertion to the heel-clamping means shown and described in Letters Patent No. 164,039, issued tome June 1, 1875. Said means-consist of 'a bottom plate f, which rests upon the heelpedestal 3 and is provided with a centrally- .disposed oblong-opening f and with a short slot f leading from said opening, into which projects a stud f located slightly to one side or the center of the heel-pedestal,and an upper plate f, which rests upon the plate f, a screw 26, passing through a centrally-located hole in the plate f and through the oblong opening in plate f into the pedestal 3, securing said plates upon the latter, while permitting them to have a swinging movement about the screw as a center. The bottom plate f has a forwardly-projecting stem which is bent downwardly at its front end and is slotted to form a bearing for an adjusting-screw 27, which revolves in said bearing without endwise movement. The threadedend of said screw enters a tapped hole 28 in a claw 29, (shown detached in Figs. 13 and let,) said claw having above said hole an opening 30 to permit it to be passed over the bent end of the stem -of the plate f and the straight stem with which the plate f is provided and which overlies the stem of plate f. Said claw is therefore adapted to slide freely upon the stems of said plates and to be adjusted to any desired position by turning'saidscrew 27. The claw is designed to take a firm hold upon the front side of the heel of the shoe, and the plate f is provided with two spurs 31, which engage therefore, that while the lever can be readily Irc patent, thereby causing a separation of theclaw 29 from the spurs 31 to permit the heel to be inserted between them, and by swinging the skate into alinement with the bottom of the shoe the plate 1 and said claw are carried rearwardly again and the heel is securely clamped between the claw and spurs, all 'as clearly described in my previous patent. By

\ utilizing the screw 27 to secure the adjustin a right line.

ment of the claw to adapt the skate for use upon any size of heel, instead of the screwboltand nut and ratchetplate described in my prior patent, I enable said adjustment to be made much more easily and quickly and avoid the necessity of carrying a wrench for turning said nut.

\Vhile the skate constructed as thus far described is adapted to be quickly and conveniently secured, to and removed from the shoe and when so secured is firmly held in posi tion without requiring the use of straps, I prefer to provide means whereby the heelclamping means are operated to grasp and release the heel of the shoe by the movement of the locking-lever e, and for this purpose I make the upper plate f of the heel-clamping means the movable plate and make the bottom plate stationary, as shown in Figs. l, 5, and- The bottom plate f is rigidly secured to the pedestal 3 by two screws 32, the heads of which project upwardly within a longitudinal slot- 33 in the upper plate f and assist in guiding the movement of said upper plate Said bottom plate is provided with two longitudinal slots 34, (see Fig. 7,) through which pass screws 35, which enter the upper plate and secure it in position, while permitting it tohave the sliding movement just described. To the front end of the stem of the upper plate is connected, by a rivet or otherwise, the rear end of a tie-stri p g, which strip passes forwardly beneath the sole-plate, being provided with longitudinal slots 36 to receive the screws 9, by which said plate is fastened to the pedestal 2, and at its front end is provided with a rounded projection 37. The locking-lever e is provided with a lateral projection at its front end, which projection terminates in a rounded socket to receive the projection 37 on said tie-strip, thereby forming a free hinge-joint between said lever and tie-bar; but any form of pivotal connection between said parts can be employed. Vvashers 38 are interposed between the sole-plate and the pedestal 2 and surrounding the screws 9, whereby a sufficient degree of separation between them is secured to permit the tie-bar to slide freely, and it follows from the construction just described that when the locking-lever is thrown outwardly to open the side clamps the tie-bar and plate f will be thrust rearwardly to open the heel-clamping devices,and that when said locking-lever is moved to its closed position the tie-bar and plate f will be drawn forwardly and the heel of the shoe willbe clamped between claw 29 and spurs 31. The skate can thus be clamped to or released from the shoe by a single movement of the lookinglever.

In Fig. 9 a single screw 39 is utilized to fasten the plate f to the heel-pedestal and assist in guiding the plate f instead of the two screws 32, and the plate f (see Fig. 10) has an enlarged central orifice 40 to receive a tapped hub 41 on the heel-pedestal, (see Fig. 11,) which hub receives said screw 39, whereby when said parts are assembled, as shown in Fig. 12, the two plates f f are capable of a rocking movement about said hub as a center in addition to the right-line movement of the plate f. Provision is thus made for utilizing other forms of connections between the plate f and the locking-lever than the tiestrip 9 or for locating said tie-strip to one side -or the other of the central line of the skate should it be desired to do so.

The adj llSlJlDg-SGIGWS 13 and 27 are preferably provided with milled heads, as shown, thereby enabling all of the adjustments of the skate to be made easily and quickly and without the use of a wrench or other tool independent of the skate itself. The skate constructed as herein described is very strong and durable, quickly and easily operated, and presents a light and graceful appearance.

It will be obvious that the toe and heel clamping devices herein shown and described can be applied either to a runner-skate or to a roller-skate, and they are not dependent for their perfect operation upon the particular form of frame and runner herein shown.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. A skate provided with clampingjaws adapted to overlap the opposite edges of a shoe-sole, each of which jaws is supported between its ends upon a vertically-disposed pivot and is thereby rendered capable of a rocking movement in a horizontal plane, and having means for adjusting said jaws both vertically and horizontally, substantially as set forth.

2. In a skate, the combination with a sole plate, of a locking-lever pivotally connected to said plate, two clamping-jaws for engaging the sides of a shoe-sole, one of which is mounted upon said sole-plate and the other upon said lever, and means substantially as described for securing a horizontal adjustment of said jaws upon their supports, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. In a skate, the combination with the sole-plate, of a locking-lever pivoted at its front end to the under side of said plate and provided at its rear end with means for making a locking engagement with said plate, two clamping-jaws mounted upon said soleplate and lever respectively each of which is adapted to overlap the edge of a shoe-sole and is capable of a rocking movement. in a horizontal plane, and means for securing an independent adjustment of said jaws to vary the distance between them, substantially as set forth.

4. In a skate, the combination with a soleplate having a depending lug formed by stamping out and bending downwardly and inwardly a portion of the body-of said plate, a locking-lever pivotally connected at its front end to said plate and provided near its rear end with an opening to receive said lug,

and two side clamps for a shoe-sole, one ofwhich is mounted upon said sole-plate and the other upon said lever, substantially as set forth.

5. In a skate, the combination with a soleplate, of a laterally-swinging locking-lever pivotally connected thereto, two clampingjaws adapted to overlap the side edges ofa shoe-sole, one of which is mounted upon said plate and the other upon said lever, means for independently adjusting said jaws both laterally and vertically upon their supports,

and suitable heel-clampingdevices for en gaging a shoe-heel, substantially asset forth.

6. In a skate, the combination with a soleplate, of a locking-lever pivotally connected thereto, two sliding plates mounted upon the under sides of said sole-plate and lever respectively each of which carries at itsouter end a vertically-disposed post, means, as adj Listing-screws, for governing the lateral position of said plates, and two clamping-jaws mounted upon said posts respectively in such manner as to be capable of a rocking movement in a horizontal plane, substantially as set forth.

7. The combination with the sole-plate and the locking-lever pivotally connected thereto, of the adjustable side clamps mounted upon said plate and lever respectively, heel-clamping means-comprising a stationary claw and a movable plate carrying spurs adapted to cooperate with said claw to clamp a shoe-heel between them, and an intermediate connection between said movable plate and said locking lever substantially as described, whereby the side clamps and heel-clamps will be operated simultaneouslyby the movement of saidlever.

8. The combination with a sole-plate, as c, locking-lever, as e, and side clamps, as d 61, carried by said plate and lever respectively, of an adjustable, heel-engaging claw, as 29, a spur-carryin g plate, as f, adapted for movement toward and away from said sole-plate, and a rigid connection, as the tie-strip g, between said plate and said locking-lever, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

9. The combination with the heel-pedestal 3, of the plate f mounted upon said pedestal and having a forwardly-projecting stem plate f guided for longitudinal movement upon the plate f and having aprojecting stem which overlies the stem of the latter, claw 29 movably mounted upon the stems of said plates, and adjusting-screw 27 revolubly supported upon the stem of said plate f and entering a tapped hole in said claw, substantially as described. I

10. The combination with the plates 1% carrying the threaded posts 17, and the adj usting-screws 13 .operatively connected therewith, of the clamping-jaws 18 provided with a tapped hole to receive said posts, substantially as and for the purpose described.

11. The combination with the threaded posts 17, of the clamping-jaws 18 having a tapped hole to receive said posts and provided with a slit extending longitudinally thereof upon opposite sides of said hole, substantially as and for the purpose described.

12. The combination with the base-plate 10 having the flange 12 and provided with the opening 20, of the plate 14: guided for movement upon said base-plate and having the flange 16, screw 13 having the groove 19 in the shank thereof whereby it is adapted to be inserted and revolubly held within said flange 12, said screw entering a tapped hole in the flange 16, and theclamping-jaw 18 carried by said plate 14:, substantially as described.

PETER RODIER. 

